This blog is affiliated with a course at the School of Journalism & Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I'll try to use it to share relevant news and information with the class, and anyone else who's interested.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Yet Another BBC Sex Scandal?

A new book is claiming that two senior staffers with BBC's hallmark Sci-Fi series Doctor Who used their positions to sexually exploit young men, amny of whom were under the legal age of consent at the time. The allegations appear in a new biography of the series' longest-serving (1980-1989) producer, John Nathan-Turner. The book's author described his own experience of being propositioned while visiting the studio at age 17:

‘It happened after the first time I was invited to up to go and see a recording of the show, and he [Nathan-Turner] got a bit frisky, shall we say. ‘I was a bit taken aback; I was only 17 and . . . he said to me, “You’re so f****** provincial”. And of course I was f******* provincial, I came from Bishop's Stortford, I didn't know about anything.'I just thought I was in this kind of wonderland that was Television Centre, thinking it was an amazing place, and so I wasn't really prepared for anything really sophisticated.'

The book's author, Richard Marson, describes Nathan-Turner as a gay man taking advantage of the situation he was in, rather than a predator. That label he reserves for Nathan-Turners' partner, Gary Downie, who served as Production Manager, and who Marson says assaulted him in an elevator on a later visit to the BBC studios.
In the wake of earlier allegations, the BBC has established a review commission to look into allegations, and whether the BBC's culture of aloofness contributed to the problem. As for these particular allegations, a BBC spokesman said they would be referred to the Dame Janet Smith Review.